The illustrative embodiments described in the present application are useful for labels and in systems including those using thermal printer label stock and more particularly are useful for signaling thermal media labels and in systems including those for providing a signaling thermal label stock for use with postage indicia printers that may also be adapted for non-signaling use.
Many countries have governmental, quasi-governmental or private mail organizations that provide for the processing and delivery of mail. In a typical postal authority system, automated processing and sorting equipment is utilized in mail processing centers to provide for efficient processing and delivery of the mail. Such automated equipment must often correctly orient the mail so that address information, postage payment evidencing information and other related information could be scanned and read.
Accordingly, postal services such as the United States Postal Service (USPS) utilize equipment such as facing equipment to correctly orient the mail piece. The equipment may also decide to divert certain mail pieces so that the evidence of postage payment may be cancelled such as by printing a cancellation image over a stamp to prevent its reuse. In the United States, several alternative methods of payment evidencing are permitted including denominated postage stamps, postage meter indicia and permit mail. Accordingly, several different facing/canceling processes have been developed for use in one or more mail processing streams.
Postage stamps are coated with a green phosphorescent material that may be detected by facer/canceller equipment. The facer equipment will typically use the green phosphorescent properties of the stamp or stamps to identify the front/top/right of the mail piece to enable proper orientation. It will then divert the mail piece for stamp cancellation. The canceller will cancel the stamp or stamps such as by printing a black cancellation image over the stamps to prevent their reuse.
Postage meter indicia may be printed using approved red fluorescent ink. If a red fluorescent ink is used, the facer can use the red fluorescent properties of that ink to identify the front/top/right of the mail piece to enable proper orientation. The system will not typically cancel a meter indicia as there are other mechanisms to prevent reuse. Postage meters may also use a non-fluorescent black ink. However, mail pieces having such non-fluorescent indicia use a barcode known as a Facing Identifier Mark (FIM) for orientation.
Permit mail is typically presorted and inducted into the mail stream at an advanced stage such that it does not travel through the facer/canceller systems used in the sorting process. However, the return user inducts certain permit mail. For example, mail pieces such as such as Business Reply Mail (BRM) postcards will be inducted in the normal mail stream at a post box or post office window. Accordingly, such mail pieces will include a FIM so that the facer/canceller equipment may properly process them. Accordingly, the facer equipment is designed to accommodate several facing process alternatives.
The DM SERIES of mailing machine available from Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford Connecticut include postage meters that incorporate digital printing technology. The DM SERIES systems use ink jet printing systems that print postage indicia directly on mail pieces or on labels that may be applied to mail pieces. The indicia may be printed with red fluorescent ink jet ink to meet the USPS facer/canceller requirements. For first-class letter-sized mail pieces, the USPS requires that the user not mix different forms of postage on a single mail piece. For example, mail pieces including indicia printed with fluorescent ink or on labels with fluorescence, and mail pieces including indicia that include a facing identification mark (FIM) are each treated differently in the facing and cancellation process.
Ink jet inks are utilized in several mailing machines and postage meters available from Pitney Bowes of Stamford, Conn. Additionally, ink jet inks have been described in U.S. patents including U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,006, issued Feb. 25, 1992 to Sarada, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,348, issued Mar. 1,1994 to Auslander, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,381, issued Oct. 28,1997 to Auslander, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,027, issued Sep. 4, 2001 to Auslander, et al. which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Additionally, certain mailing machines and postage meters have used certain thermal printing techniques. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,148 issued Feb. 28,1995 to Berson describes an apparatus using a thermal ribbon and is incorporated herein by reference.
Such facing compatible systems must be used only in the front/top/right corner of a mail piece so that proper orientation may be achieved in the mail piece processing equipment. The prior art does not provide a thermal label stock that may be selective used for signaling and thus used for both indicia regions and non-indicia regions of a mail piece.